Empower Bhutan's Citizens to Engage in Democracy

by The Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD)
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Empower Bhutan's Citizens to Engage in Democracy
Empower Bhutan's Citizens to Engage in Democracy
Empower Bhutan's Citizens to Engage in Democracy
Empower Bhutan's Citizens to Engage in Democracy
Empower Bhutan's Citizens to Engage in Democracy
Empower Bhutan's Citizens to Engage in Democracy
Empower Bhutan's Citizens to Engage in Democracy

Project Report | Apr 27, 2021
Expanding Public Discourse

By Zulkee Choden Rinzin | Assistant Communications Officer

Reimagining Bhutan Policy Brief

With the submission of the 21st Century Economic Roadmap and the issuance of the Royal Kashos, the policy brief from BCMD and UNDP’s Reimagining Bhutan series has never been more timely and relevant. The series seized the opportunity provided by the pandemic to reflect and recommend bold policy suggestions on themes of governance, technology, economy, environment, education and social protection by drawing on the knowledge of experts and local non-governmental thought leaders. The policy brief provides recommendations which the partner organisations believe will help address the drastic changes and reformations taking place in the country.

You can access the policy brief here: http://bcmd.bt/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Policy-Brief.pdf

Remaining ‘Apolitical’ in Bhutan’s Democracy

The theme for Bhutan Democracy Forum 2021 – Being “apolitical” in democratic Bhutan – sought to open the space for a discourse on several interconnected questions around ‘apoliticalness’. Bhutan’s democracy isn’t about political parties or elections alone; it is an everyday exercise and it is only as strong as the participation of its citizens. However, having to remain ‘apolitical’ is often a barrier in deepening and expanding the discourses on Bhutan’s democracy.

The discussion highlighted the tightropes civil servants have to walk as they implement decisions made by the elected government of the day irrespective of their political preferences, and to protect national interests at the same time. In talking about civil servants being apolitical, a panelist shared that policies and politics cannot be separated. Their political stance is important to ensure that in designing and implementing policies, they bring on board the full benefit of their past experiences and their professional expertise and not be influenced or coloured by their political preferences.

The discussion also brought to light the struggles of the Media that have the responsibility to inform the nation in accessing information from public servants and institutions who tend to self-censor in the name of being apolitical. For the same reason, common forums tend to be poorly attended by the educated echelon as they fear the risk of being misconstrued as "political"; this, in the view of political parties, defeats the purpose of common forums and undermines informed choice.

Public institutions keeping the Media at bay on the one hand and the growing popularity of social media, on the other hand, engenders the risk of social media that abounds with unsubstantiated and unregulated information shaping citizens' views and perceptions.

The promotion of public forums, think tanks, critics and commentators who conduct independent research were recommended to help the public make informed decisions.

The forum was attended in person by the national assembly speakers, parliamentarians, representatives from the government agencies, political parties, press and more whereas 238 university lecturers and students and other individuals from within and outside the country joined the forum via Zoom.

The forum will be aired on BBS and will also be uploaded on BCMD’s YouTube channel. The proceedings of the forum will also be printed and distributed to stakeholders.

The forum was held in collaboration with the Royal University of Bhutan and is supported by the Danish Institute of Parties and Democracy.

Building Better Communities

The Building Community Initiative in 2021 is designed for our local leaders, administrators and community representatives to strengthen their capacities in the development of the gewog plans by effectively engaging the residents.

19 participants attended the three-day training on Community Mapping. It gave them a chance to relook at the definition of community and what makes it strong. The Shaba Gup shared how the lockdown helped him realise that all residents, not just the registered voters, are equal members of the community. It is important for the local elected leaders to consult and address the residents’ concerns and aspirations as much as that of the voters of their constituency.

This project is supported by the Asia Foundation with the aim to strengthen inclusive and participatory planning and decision-making at the local level where elected leaders, administrators, and citizens engage in genuine consultation and democratic decision-making processes.

Making Sense of Strategic Communications

In continuation with the Civil Society Engagement Workshop conducted in September last year, BCMD developed a Strategic Communications Guidebook for Civil Society. This interactive guidebook is designed to help organisations develop a communications strategy so they can achieve their programmatic, fundraising and advocacy goals.

This guidebook will be distributed to civil society organisations in an effort to help expand their reach, network of supporters, partners and constituents. It can also be found online at: http://bcmd.bt/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Communications-Guidebook.pdf

This project is supported by EU Helvetas.

Dynamic Approaches Towards Learning

Designed in an intentional, graphic-driven and easy-to-understand format where each section builds on the previous one, the peer facilitation guidebook will supplement the peer facilitation training offered to help model and execute a radically different approach towards learning. The facilitative approach not only integrates the head, heart and hands when solving problems but more importantly does this in an inclusive, fun and experiential way. In the past, BCMD has utilised this approach to co-facilitate the Youth Summits which is attended by 100+ youths from across the country.

Nevertheless, the peer facilitation training remains highly flexible and lends itself to be used in a variety of settings to solve a variety of problems. This guidebook will help institutionalise the best practices so that this approach can be easily taught and replicated by other interested changemakers.

You can find the guidebook at: http://bcmd.bt/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Peer-Facilitation-Guidebook.pdf

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Organization Information

The Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD)

Location: Thimphu, N/A - Bhutan
Website:
Facebook: Facebook Page
Twitter: @Bhutan_CMD
Project Leader:
Pek Sioksian Dorji
Thimphu , N/A Bhutan
$6,878 raised of $10,000 goal
 
220 donations
$3,122 to go
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